APTA Seeks Member Comments on Walking for Surgeon General Call to Action

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

APTA Seeks Member Comments on Walking for Surgeon General Call to Action

To
address the public health problem of physical inactivity, the Department of
Health and Human Services is accepting comments on walking as an effective way
to be sufficiently active for health. The information collected will help frame
an anticipated Surgeon General's call to action on this issue.

APTA
will submit comments by the April 30 deadline. APTA members are encouraged to send
their recommendations to APTA to be included in the association's submission to
HHS.

The
notice requests
information on ways to increase walking and community walkability on the
following 2 topics:

(1) Barriers
to walking for youth, adults, seniors, people with developmental injury and
chronic disease-related disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and
low-income individuals.

(2) Evidence-based
strategies for overcoming those barriers and their reach and impact to increase
physical activity at the population level and among the above-mentioned
subpopulations

Comments

Thanks for this opportunity. I have forwarded this to an associate as well, Dr. Elizabeth Perkins who specialized in Development Disabilities.

Posted by Celinda P. Evitt, PT, PhD
on 4/8/2013 5:14 PM

1. Barriers to walking: in majority of suburban communities, there are no safe walking pathways i.e. no side walks, no pedestrian signals at intersections, poorly marked or unmarked pedestrian crossings. Also we are all very much aware of the lack of reliable public transportation specifically in the suburban areas. The shopping centers though maybe close but no safe walking pathways deter walking and people use their motor vehicles to even get one single item. I do not believe that this is limited to the mentioned subpopulations but affects everyone alike.